


It Started With A Goldfish

by TaraFarrago



Category: The West Wing
Genre: Gen, One Shot, POV First Person, Romance, just for fun
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-12
Updated: 2014-04-12
Packaged: 2018-01-19 01:33:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 683
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1450369
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TaraFarrago/pseuds/TaraFarrago
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Quick vignette for Danny and CJ</p>
            </blockquote>





	It Started With A Goldfish

**Author's Note:**

> Just perusing my old fics for inspiration and thought this would be worth posting. Still one of my favorite shows ever. Comments keep writing so don't be shy! :)

My heart stopped.

I literally felt it stop beating, and that’s quite a sensation, I don’t mind telling you.

She kissed me. I gave her a goldfish and first she laughed at me and then she kissed me. The White House Press Secretary kissed me. C.J. Cregg kissed me. This beautiful, amazing, intelligent, beautiful, brilliant, incredible woman whom I adore, whom I have been neglecting my responsibilities to my editor for, kissed me. On the cheek. Whose neck is not fat and whose legs are the perfect length, and who looks absolutely stunning not just in a grey silk Donna Karan but in anything she wears. And she kissed me.

And my heart stopped.

And the fact that my heart stopped must have cut off the flow of blood to my brain. Or maybe it was because I wasn’t breathing and I wasn’t getting enough oxygen. Because all I could think to say next was, “Keep your head in the game.”

Stupid Concannon. Stupid Concannon. The woman just kissed you, and you’re telling her again to shape up with her job. So she used the word “subpoena” and it ended up in all the headlines. All but yours. So she inadvertently challenged Lillienfield to produce evidence of drug use in the White House. So you gave her a goldfish named Gale, and first she laughed at you, but then she leaned over her desk and kissed you on the cheek.

So you’re starting to fall in love with her.

No, but using the word “subpoena” was a stupid mistake and she knows it. And so was challenging Lillienfield. But that doesn’t mean you rub her nose in it after she kisses you. And then walk stupidly out of her office totally stunned and unable to think in coherent sentences.

C.J.’s smart, though. She wouldn’t read too much into what you said. She might not even read much into the fact that you gave her a goldfish for no particular reason.

Along those same lines of thinking, maybe I shouldn’t read too much into the kiss.

No, screw it, I’m going to read as much into that kiss as I want to. I’ll fantasize that she’s falling in love right along with me. Because after weeks of flirting to no avail, now I’ve got something to show for it, and if anyone around here deserves to fantasize about C.J. Cregg, I do.

But God, I won’t be able to look her in the eye for another three days. And flirting’s going to be different now - I’ll be a lot more nervous, for one. For another, I’ll be a lot more nervous. And for yet another, all I’ll be able to think about is if she wants to kiss me again, which means I won’t be able to think of anything to say, which means I’ll be a lot more nervous.

That’s three reasons right there that flirting will be more difficult for me. While I’m making lists, I should make a list of reasons to flirt with her. Just for some motivation. One, her hair. Two, her eyes. No, one, her eyes, two, her hair. No, two her face, three her hair. Four her legs. Five her lips - no, her smile. Because a smile is the lips and the teeth, but you can’t put teeth on a list like this, ‘cause it would be weird. Lips should come before hair and legs. Her brain should come before all of that. Only maybe not the eyes.

Maybe instead I should make a list to give to her. A list of reasons to date me.

I hope she does want to kiss me again. Maybe on the lips this time. I hope she wants to kiss me for the rest of her life.

You’re getting ahead of yourself, Danny-boy. You can’t go straight from a goldfish and a kiss on the cheek to bonds of holy matrimony till death do you part. If the world worked like that, they might not be able to revive you the next time your heart stopped.


End file.
